Archives for April 2013

I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay. I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation. — Jason Collins Jason Collins plays center for the Washington Wizards and came out in Sports Illustrated, Read more →

More than 377 garment workers have died and hundreds more are thought to be missing in a building in Dhaka, Bangladesh that collapsed last week. It is the worst disaster in the history of the garment industry. The building is home to garment factories that make clothing for U.S. and European consumers, reports the BBC. Read more →

The White House is seeking more evidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons during the country’s ongoing civil war. “U.S. intelligence officials say the possibility of the use of chemical weapons in Syria is a ‘strong maybe’ rather than a ‘slam dunk,’ a term that was used to describe Iraq’s weapons of mass Read more →

“Despite hopes that the internet could change the fundamental nature of political participation, it is still the case that the well-educated and relatively well-off are more likely to take part in civic life both online and offline,” a new survey from the Pew Internet and American Life project has found. The report found a significant Read more →

CNN, Fox News, the Associated Press and the Boston Globe falsely reported that a Boston Marathon suspect was in custody last Wednesday. Reddit and the New York Post identified the wrong suspects altogether. The Associated Press confirmed Tuesday that the organization’s Twitter account had been hacked. A false post was published about an attack on Read more →

Charges have been filed against the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing case. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is accused of conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. Democratic Sens. Schumer and Feinstein are among those calling for the death penalty. Mr. Schumer compared the case of Mr. Tsarnaev, a naturalized U.S. citizen, to that Read more →

Moments after the Boston Marathon bombings took place authorities solicited images from the public to help track down suspects. Many images of the finish line were also added to Reddit where internet denizens tried their hand at cracking the case. It turns out the crowdsourced manhunt was as effective as the New York Post, which Read more →

A new poll from the Associated Press finds that only 1 in 4 Americans now expects his or her financial situation to improve over the next year. Employment in Minnesota dropped by 5,200 jobs in March. Steve Hine, Minnesota’s chief labor market analyst, said the cold weather in March likely played a big role in Read more →

Minnesota is one of 29 states that makes it illegal to refuse to hire someone because they smoke. The American Lung Association opposes this law and takes the position that it elevates “smokers to a protected class.” A growing list of organizations have a policy of not hiring smokers. “Many health care organizations, such as Read more →

Mister Rogers shared the advice his mother gave him as a child when he saw something bad happen in the news. “My mother would tell me to look for the helpers. ‘You’ll always find people helping’ she’d say, and I’ve found that that’s true. In fact it is one of the best things about our Read more →